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Just lost job 2/2/2012 after ten year long career - any helpful hints - al702

Posted: Feb 13, 2012

Well after ten years as radiology transcriptionist I lost my job to new technology. Any helpful hints on finding a new job, what the market is for radiology transcriptiionists, is there any hope for me?

sorry - experiencedmt

[ In Reply To ..]
I'm hanging on by a thread after 16 years it seems like. Wish I could say I felt better about it, but I don't. I have applied for a second job with too many companies to count to supplement my first one. Good luck! I wish you the best.

lost job - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I don't know anything about them except what I've read here, some good, some not so good, but I think Keystrokes has radiology, think have seen an ad recently for a couple of companies for radiology.

and wanted to say also - sorry for your loss

[ In Reply To ..]
hope you find something soon!

I too am sorry for your loss. - Suzy Q

[ In Reply To ..]
I am not sure if this makes you feel any better, but you are not alone. I too was laid off due to lack of work and technology. I have had a hard time finding work with 30 years experience. Of course I will not settle for anything, meaning no low pay VR and am not going with big companires that pay nickels and dimes. You will find something else I am sure, but beware of companies that over-hire and leave you sitting with no work.

I agree with posters above who recommend new training programs, especially those sponsored by government, EDD. I am sure you will find something and maybe even better than doing MT work.

Good luck.

Radiology transcription - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
I would milk unemployment and learn something new totally altogether. I plan to do this when I get laid off or I always have my ears and eyes open for new opportunities as this is a dying art. Check your unemployment office for displaced workers, there is a lot of free education out there now. Do not get scammed by a trade school without really investigating how the trade is doing in real life. They are still scamming new subjects who are lied to about a transcription career these days so be careful there. You could do acute care if you insist on staying in transcription, there is always low pay for VR and terrible dictators for this position.

al702 - Old Pro

[ In Reply To ..]
First of all, my heart goes out to you. You ask if there is any hope for you. Of course there is! I would think that with your experience, you might try to market yourself:
1. At free-standing radiology centers. I don't know where you are located, but in California there are tons of them. I am quite claustrophobic, so when I needed an MRI, I went to a free-standing center that had an open MRI. I see all kinds of these centers advertised in the papers, etc.
2. Are you anywhere near a large teaching hospital? For years and years, I did radiology (in-house) for a large California teaching hospital and loved it. It seems the trend in Cal is to bring radiology jobs back in-house. Again, I do not know where you are, but might this work for you?
3. I would also contact the bigger clinics in the area, surgery centers, doc in a box, etc.
Above all, don't give up! And I will keep you in my prayers. Good luck to you!

On the plus side (it really is), SR improves TAT tremendously - BUT,

[ In Reply To ..]
and can integrate with natural language processing to extract important data, suggest treatment, etc. Plus, docs dictating into good systems find it as easy as dictating always was. They can edit if they want, edit just a part and send the rest to us, or send the whole thing to us. The better the system, the less comes to us, and some are very, very good and getting better every day.

Also on the "plus" side, though--for us only, the percentage of major errors in front-end-processed radiology reports, according to one study I read, is 8 TIMES higher than reports that are sent to us back-end for transcribing or editing.

This enormous increase in numbers of errors holds for all other areas of medicine, too, and has to change. Errors kill AND cost institutions a lot of money. When physicians are pushed to invest more time to bring them down, they will, but how much and how much time can they afford to invest?

I believe these human and economic factors mean there will be work for some of us for some while. We're in an era of great experimentation and change, though, with tremendous enthusiasm for getting rid of our function. As the current wave of change plays out, which of us reading here will be pushed out and unable to find a job for months, if at all, unable to rejoin those who still have those jobs?

I don't know, but I sincerely believe everyone who isn't on the point of retirement, incapacitated physically or by grave responsibilities, or able to do without a year's income without devastation, should retrain. Now. If at all possible while still working. If you have the brains, get tough and go get a four-year degree so you can earn a college grad income. If not, trade school for a skill with a low but dependable income.

In the meantime, good luck finding a new position you like. Please come post your experiences for others who come looking for direction.

Thank you for encouragement - al

[ In Reply To ..]
Thanks to all for the encouragement. It has been very uplifting and greatly appreciated

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